About Northwest Family Services
Northwest Family Services (NWFS) is seeking a Deputy Director who believes in the mission of NWFS, who will lead with integrity and ensure NWFS remains a healthy, effective organization that serves to improve the quality of life for thousands of individuals and families.
NWFS is committed to the belief that all people deserve fairness, dignity and respect. Every day we live our values to "Uplift. Empower. Transform." Our approach is holistic, offering wrap-around services to help individuals and families thrive by providing resources and support tailored to their unique situations. Whether it's guiding people through complex health systems, ensuring stable housing, offering mental health and substance use services, or empowering vulnerable youth, NWFS is committed to making a positive impact.
Our commitment shapes how we all work with each other. We value empathy, humility, accountability, professional trust, collaboration, and cultural responsiveness. We are committed to listening and learning. We strive for effective teamwork, program accountability and a workplace where employees are respected and have opportunities to grow and succeed.
The Opportunity
The Deputy Director is a key member of NWFS' leadership team reporting to the Executive Director. The position has primary responsibility for organizational operations and administrative functions across NWFS's five service areas.
This is a broad leadership role that requires staying firmly connected to NWFS' people, programs and fiscal health. The role requires a skilled person who is able to step back and see the larger picture as well as dig into budget details, work through personnel issues, facilitate program execution, and help a manager solve a challenging problem.
The Deputy Director builds trust, develops good managers, sets clear expectations, and follows through to ensure program and fiscal accountability. This person does not need to be the expert in every program. They do need to know how to lead people who are experts in their fields and how to make good decisions when several different needs or priorities are involved.
Primary Responsibilities
- Work closely with the Executive Director and managers to carry out NWFS's mission, Board direction, and strategic priorities and to maintain strong programs, coordinated operations, clear accountability, and measurable results.
- Provide leadership and oversight for organizational operations, assigned programs, managers, and administrative functions.
- Supervise and develop managers, establish clear expectations, strengthen collaboration, and address employee and organizational issues when they arise.
- Develop a keen working knowledge of NWFS's five service areas and lead effectively through program managers and subject-matter experts.
- Ensure assigned programs meet contractual, regulatory, ethical, quality, funding, and documentation requirements and identify emerging risks and organizational needs.
- Provide oversight of budgets, grant and contract performance, restricted funding, financial trends, resource needs, and revenue risks.
- Work with the Executive Director and appropriate staff on government grants and contracts, funder strategy, grant development, external partnerships, and long-term revenue sustainability.
- Supports development including donor support, fundraising, and agency events activities.
- Make sure managers have useful and reliable information to evaluate outcomes, identify trends, improve services, meet funding requirements, and make good decisions.
- Improve systems and management practices where needed and help NWFS build the leadership capacity and organizational continuity it will need in the future.
- Build trust throughout the organization, remain connected to frontline employees, and model direct, respectful, and culturally responsive leadership.
- Prepare and present information to the Board of Directors or Board committees when requested by the Executive Director.
- Represent NWFS and maintain productive relationships with government, nonprofit, philanthropic, funding, and community partners.
The Leader We Seek
The Deputy Director should be an emotionally intelligent, mission-centered leader with good management judgment and strong practical skills. We are looking for someone who genuinely cares about NWFS, its employees, clients, partners, and communities and who understands that good intentions must be matched by good management.
The successful candidate will bring:
- Strong leadership presence, initiative, and analytical ability. Able to focus individual and collective work efforts by means of effective systems and practices aligned with NWFS's mission, culture, and goals.
- Sound and competent judgment, decision-making processes and decisions, and a willingness to take responsibility for them.
- Predictable and fair leadership with the ability to build trust, strengthen working relationships, and bring people together around common goals.
- Emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and good interpersonal judgment, particularly when dealing with difficult or sensitive situations.
- A direct, calm, and trustworthy communication style and the ability to address problems without creating friction.
- The ability to listen well, consider different perspectives, accept feedback, and change direction when circumstances or better information warrant it.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills and the ability to keep multiple programs, priorities, and resources moving in the right direction.
- The ability to understand the larger needs of NWFS while knowing enough about individual programs, funding requirements, and service goals to guide their leaders effectively.
- Skills for developing managers, creating accountability, delegating appropriately, and leading through people with specialized expertise.
- Strong financial, analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
- Professional relationships based on authenticity, respect, discretion, collaboration, and appropriate boundaries.
- A genuine commitment to improving quality of life and helping NWFS succeed in its work.
Education and Experience
Required
- Bachelor's degree in nonprofit management, public administration, business, social services, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant leadership experience.
- At least seven years of progressively responsible leadership experience, including at least three years in a senior management role within a nonprofit organization, government social-service agency, foundation, healthcare or human-services organization, or a comparably complex mission-driven setting.
- Significant management experience, including supervision and development of managers or multidisciplinary teams.
- Experience with organizational operations, program oversight, budgets and financial monitoring, and implementation of strategic priorities.
- Experience with government grants, contracts, restricted funding, compliance, reporting, grant development, or similar funding environments.
- Experience handling complex organizational, personnel, operational, and financial matters.
- Excellent written, verbal, presentation, facilitation, and interpersonal communication skills.
- Ability and willingness to work primarily in person, travel locally among NWFS worksites and community locations, and occasionally work non-standard hours when organizational needs require.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and comply with applicable privacy requirements, including HIPAA and, where relevant, federal substance-use-disorder confidentiality requirements.
Preferred
- Advanced degree in nonprofit management, public administration, business, social work, public health, or a related field.
- Senior leadership experience in a multi-program human-services organization serving communities affected by poverty, trauma, homelessness, domestic violence, behavioral health needs, or other systemic barriers.
- Experience with organizational change, cross-functional systems improvement, risk management, leadership development, or organizational continuity and succession planning.
- Knowledge of the Oregon and Portland-metro public and nonprofit human-services funding and partnership environment.
Our Commitment
NWFS provides culturally responsive services that are equitable, respectful, and relevant to people from a wide variety of cultures, backgrounds, and orientations. Please visit our website: https://nwfs.org/about-us
NWFS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, primary language, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, or other status protected by applicable law.
We seek a Deputy Director who shares our commitment to the communities we serve and will help maintain a workplace where people are treated with dignity and respect, managers and employees are supported in doing good work, and NWFS continues to provide high-quality services.